Art Treasure Tips from Tom
Bernini at the "Steps" of Saint Andrew
Visitors in Rome flock to many "must see" sites. Two of these locations are the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Crowds of tourists walk between one and the other, many never realizing that they are passing by an outstanding team of angels sculpted by the baroque master, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Just south of Piazza di Spagna (and north of Fontana di Trevi) on Via di Sant'Andrea delle Fratte is a church of the same name. Inside, framing the main altar, are two "prototype" marble angels.
One of the last and largest projects for an aging Bernini was to replace the deteriorating stucco angels of Raffaello da Montelupo that stood on the bridge that crossed the Tiber, endeding at the entrance of Castel Sant'Angelo. Logically named Ponte Sant'Angelo, this span over the present day Tevere River (Tiber) was to become a showplace for ten Bernini angels, each one depicting a moment in the Passion of the Christ.
Not a bad gig for a seventy year old sculptor!
In fact, Bernini personally completed only two of the ten (while his assistants worked on the remaining eight). One holds the superscription I.N.R.I., the other delicately grasps the Crown of Thorns.
The Pope who commissioned the project, Clement IX, was so fond of these two angels that he kept them for himself! Fortunately for the faithful and the curious, they now reside inside Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.
It was normal in the time of the Imperial Papacy that the CEO of the Catholic Church surround himself with riches, materials, accolades and servants. The glory of God was measured in stuff more than sacrament and artists cooperated in order to have the canvas and medium necessary for their creations. Bernini was no exception.
The generous sponsorship of the Holy Father gave him resources necessary for creating mammoth masterpieces throughout Rome. Yet, controversy and intrigue swirled around these works as well.
Whether or not the elliptical colonnade at St. Peter's pays homage to Galileo's solar system treatise is substance for discussion. And the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa statue in Santa Maria Vittoria clearly begs consideration between the sacred and the profane. The same tenets apply to these angels in Saint Andrew as well.
Looking at the two statues, one can only marvel at the power and passion that was Bernini. Bringing something so inanimate as marble to life is a stroke of genius. (In this case, a hammer stroke). But Bernini exceeds this by giving the duo an appearance of human character.
The angel holding the I.N.R.I. banner seems to be pious, instructive and focused on the presentational task at hand. The other however is reacting logically to the slightly thorny duty at hand (literally). We empathize with the story of the Passion and contemplate the interpretation etched in metamorphic majesty.
Ouch. It hurts to get stuck in the finger by a thorn.
This is classic Bernini: a combination of force, piety and just a little pain.
Tom Shaker
